


dear cheney

by whereitallends



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-08
Updated: 2015-08-08
Packaged: 2018-04-13 16:16:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4528674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whereitallends/pseuds/whereitallends
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>just something I wanted in public for some reason, but didn't know where to put.</p>
            </blockquote>





	dear cheney

Dear Cheney,  
I don’t think I realized how much you mean to me, and really the entire fan base, until you officially announced your retirement. I had expected Abby’s; I had expected Pearcie’s; I had expected Boxxy’s. I hadn’t expected yours. I don’t know if anyone did. Maybe that’s why yours hit me harder than anyone else’s did; it’s always what we don’t expect that hits us the hardest, isn’t it?  
I’ve had a lot of time to think about your retirement, and I’ve kind of realized that that’s how your career has gone, at least from a fan’s point of view: somewhat quiet at first, but then it suddenly exploded into sparks, into goals, into wins, and into what most people only dream about. I can’t tell you how your career went better than you can, obviously. I can’t tell you what you’ve achieved, at least materialistically, better than anyone else can. I can’t tell you anything, really, except thank you. Thank you for inspiring so many young girls and women, including me; whether it’s to take our soccer careers to the next level or to follow our other dreams, whatever they may be, you have shown that anything is possible for women in a world that is still largely run by men. Thank you for showing us that a bad day, a setback, does not mean a bad life or falling back forever. Thank you for bringing us the new kids, no matter how short-lived it was, because you, A-Rod, and Tobin taught us the meaning and value of true friendship. I look now at the three of you after the World Cup final, at the bittersweet looks on each of your faces, at Tobin, whose emotions are so unbridled that it’s a miracle anyone looked at her and didn’t start crying instantly, at A-Rod, who’s holding back her tears, maybe because it’s her last tournament with you, maybe because of the win, maybe both, and at you, who went out in a shower of a game-winning goal, a world championship, one final trophy, and a shower of gold confetti, who has had a legendary career, and who was about to announce the end of that career and so break the hearts of thousands of people, and I think that this is what I want in life: I want to leave a mark on other people, because that is the only thing that truly lasts forever. Not the career we pick, not the records we set—however great and memorable they may be, they will always be broken—but the friends we make, the bridges we build, and the impact we make.  
When Jill told you “what a send-off for you, my friend,” perhaps giving us a glimpse of what was to come earlier than you’d hoped, at the fan event in LA, my heart dropped, and the internet was thrown into a panic of the type I have never seen before. Most of us cried. We cried because we were shocked. We cried because we all felt that it was too early, that Jill must have been drunk or hungover, that you couldn’t be leaving when you were still so young. We cried because when Abby broke her leg so many years ago and told you to start running because you were going to the Olympics, you ran. You ran straight into our hearts, where you have always held a special place, whether we (or you) knew it or not, and you always will. I hope you continue to embrace that, even when you no longer play the sport that brought your name into our lives. I know I will.  
So thank you, Lauren Holiday, for a great decade, for both club and country. It’s been a hell of a ride.


End file.
